This Peace Council considered demilitarization from the point of view of economic conversion of nuclear labs and other military installations. In that regard, they determined that indeed, especially in New Mexico, the possibility exists to convert the labs to the production of alternative energy. Using the local resources that exist in the state, New Mexico could, in fact, become the energy capital of the world, and could combine its expertise in spirituality, healing, and science to become a healing center as well.

The Council also considered what a new economic culture or model might look like. It would values-based, working for the common good. It would emphasize local, renewable, and sustainable resources. Business would be spirit-guided, giving at least a tenth of its income back to the community, using diagonal management, and operating on trust rather than fear. There are many good examples already from 'green' businesses.

New kinds of corporations would be founded on the principle of 'we are connected,' rather than on 'we are separate.' There would be a re-balancing of masculine and feminine values to move from a focus on control, domination, exploitation, and win/lose approaches to one with more collaborative, nurturing, receptive, and intuitive approaches with less fear of failing.

The Council considered such elements of a new business model as zoning, boycotts, living wage laws, whole ownership practices, and public financing of elections to stop corporate influence. They also discussed holding corporations to criminal standards of culpability, and enacting a Constitutional amendment requiring that corporations meet specific social responsibility standards, with audits every 5-10 years, in order to keep operating. They also discussed a spirit-infused business culture that was heart-centered and generative, with inspired products and a feel-good economic process.

This Peace Council explored the common good as the 4th sector in society, producing a socially-conscious economic culture that understands socially-oriented strategies as necessary for long-term sustainability. One idea is for a group of socially-conscious businesses to work together to buy out transnational corporations and convert them to this new model. There was also discussion about public education to help society mature toward a value of the common good.

Finally, one session examined war taxes, and named ways to reduce the taxes one paid to the government for use in war, namely by living more simply, by contributing to charity and IRA's, owning one's own business, and by trading labor.

Resources from this Council include:

Corporation 20/20 - www.corporation20/20.org

Hope, Human, and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth, by Bill McKibben

The Mondragon Cooperative - www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragón_Cooperative_Corporation